It’s ‘Guinness Time’ at Conti

In the world of high-speed tyres Germany’s Continental has demonstrated it has nothing to be ashamed of following the entry of one of its products, the ContiSportContact Vmax, into the famed Guinness Book of Records as the world’s fastest standard production tyre. Certification experts from TÜV Süd Automotive in Munich recently served as independent technical witnesses to confirm the Conti tyre’s status, a pre-condition for entry in the revered book. First unveiled three years ago, the ContiSportContact Vmax is approved for use at speeds up to 360 km/h (225 mph), and carries a ‘ZR’ rating – the top designation on the speed rating scale, Y, does not accommodate speeds in excess of 300 km/h.

The tyre is based on the ContiSportContact product family and underwent further development to achieve substantially enhanced high-speed characteristics. Top priority in this context was efficient tyre cooling, whilst maintaining good handling and positive characteristics in the wet. “When developing this high-tech tyre, which is approved for road use, we were able to call on experience gained in the design of high-performance tyres for original equipment and for our technology partners in the customising sector” explained Holger Berkmann, tyre developer at Continental. “Adopting Formula One concepts would not help us here, as high-speed tyres approved for road use have to build up grip on wet and dry roads and they are also expected to achieve an appropriate mileage.”

Under controlled testing conditions, even faster speeds than the officially sanctioned 360 km/h are possible. The current record was set back in December 2004 by Jan Fatthauer, proprietor of the sports car customising company 9ff, at the wheel of a Porsche GT3 when it reached a maximum speed of 388 km/h (242 mph) in Nardò, southern Italy. Jan Fatthauer also set the record for the world’s fastest convertible – again in a Porsche customised by 9ff and fitted with ContiSportContact Vmax tyres – in October 2006, when he reached a speed of 380.5 km/h (237.8 mph).